By the end of the story the pigs have begun to walk upright and they carry whips.  Promised improvement in conditions for other citizens have been forgotten.  And the Seven Commandments that were to serve as the foundation for the common democracy have been reduced to just one: All animals are equal,...

Why is it good to have a runner on second base?  Two reasons:  first, he’s in “scoring position” where a well-placed single will drive him home; and second, he can see the signals the catcher is giving the pitcher and pass them on to the batter.  In this subtle game of refined skills, anticipating...

Okay, let’s start with a few premises and see where it leads:  Love is blind/ Marriage is an institution/ Love and marriage go together/ Therefore, marriage is an institution for the blind. I don’t know if Aristotle would approve of the structure of that syllogism, but it does illustrate that...

The most common strategy that wealthy and healthy taxpayers use to fund against unavoidable anticipated estate tax liability is to purchase life insurance in an irrevocable trust; funding the trust with gifts so the trustee can pay the premiums. Transfers to the trust can be protected from gift taxation...

In the past the word culture referred to a society’s accumulated knowledge and its time-tested and proven body of values and principles which each generation must pass on to the next if the ongoing continuity and success of the community was to be assured.  But much like paper currency, words lose...

Gifting is an important tool in designing many types of Advanced Markets cases.  Gifts can create opportunities but may also generate complications for producers and clients. Questions you may be asking are, “How will knowing more about the gift rules help me in my career?” or “How will gifting...

Little Harold ran into the kitchen where his Mother was preparing dinner and said, “Hey Mom!  You know that antique vase on the stand in the front hall that has been handed down from generation to generation?”  When she looked up he reported, “Well my generation just dropped it!” The transfer...

It was an eye-opener the first time I walked into the office of a civil engineer back in the 1970s and saw, spread across an entire wall, the flowchart mapping out the relationship and time sequence of all that was involved in getting an eight-story building there in the Burg from ground-breaking to grand-opening. The...

Few American publishers have had or will ever approach the influence of Henry Luce in his heyday. Through the middle half of the 20th century, Luce founded and successfully grew a family of magazines whose content was a major factor in shaping the thought and activity of American society. He named...

How much does an insurance company think that your client is worth?  Many times it is much more than your client does, and you have their underwriting guidelines to prove it! Insurance companies don’t want to over-insure someone.  Too much coverage can often result in someone falling down a flight...